Author: Anthony

Article from Saturday’s Irish Independent

The world of politics is far from dull. But, this week, it turned into a full-blown roller coaster when the Government decided to ram through new legislation to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank.

Predictably, the Opposition was making the most of its chance to shine.

And, in the case of Labour Finance spokeswoman Joan Burton, this meant lashing out at former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern for the nation’s banking ills.

“‘Ansbacher man’ seems to have had a son called ‘Anglo man’, and the principal and first son of ‘Anglo man’ is Mr ‘Seánie’ FitzPatrick,” she told the Dail. “It is interesting that the former Taoiseach never talked about Mr FitzPatrick, but he used that personal name that we read in the writings of people like Padraig Pearse — not just ‘Seán’ but ‘Seánie’,” she added.

“It is cultural,” she said. “It indicates the closeness and togetherness of the family — the family of party, of business, of country.”

Property developers became ever more ruthless and greedy as the Celtic Tiger progressed. Many of them branched off into mafia type property management scams. Countless thousands of mortgage holders are being systematically ripped off in this completely unregulated business. The Mafiosi running these scams is well protected by Government inaction.

Another scam engaged in by developers was to construct houses and apartments with tiny rooms thus condemning many people to live in shoeboxes with massive mortgages.

But the most outrageous and depraved scam was the practice of forcing house buyers to sign a contract giving the developer a share of the funds if the owner decided to sell within a specified time.

So, you could have a situation where the developer would receive 10% of the price if the owner sold in the first year, 5% in the second year and so on. This was all perfectly legal and the Government never took any action to stop the practice.

The absolute and uncontrolled greed of these property developers was on my mind as I listened to one of them being interviewed by Eamon Dunphy.

Paddy Kelly, introduced by Dunphy as one of Ireland’s wealthiest property developers was recently presented with a lifetime achievement award in New York by the Ireland US Council.

Here’s some of what this gentleman had to say. (It should be kept in mind that this interview took place on the 29th November before the rot at Anglo Irish Bank was exposed).

Asked about the current crisis enveloping the country Kelly said;

“We’re going to need steady heads to sort our problems and we need to be decent to one another and to help one another and for me compassion is so central to how we live and how we are.”

On the question of over development particularly in Dublin Kelly said. It was stupid but it’s all about Government policy and policy in Ireland today is a bit confused.

It wasn’t the developers fault; the Celtic Tiger came upon us so fast that there was no time for preplanning but, Kelly helpfully added, “I hope we manage the down turn now.

Kelly admitted that he would build anywhere no matter what the consequences once he got planning permission and added “planning was so tedious that it would try the patience of Job.”

To get around such inconvenience Kelly candidly admitted that ‘brown envelopes’ were taken in order to smooth out planning problems. (Here we have a property developer openly adimtting on national radio that bribery occurred with absolute confidence that he will never be questioned by police)

The conversation became even more bizarre when Kelly was quizzed on his loans and banking. I owe hundreds of millions but it’s no great burden he happily admitted.

What’s the last thing you think of before going to sleep, do you think of the bank, asked Dunphy.

“No, no, my life is full of joy and full of the moment. I think of people.”

What about your bank manager?

“Well, I think of the skill of Anglo Irish and the people involved, those people are so creative.”

Dunphy interjected – Anglo Irish Bank? It’s one of the banks endangered I believe.

“All the banks are in danger but you’ll find that as the weeks go on Anglo Irish are in very good shape and you’d be surprised how good the quality is of the people in there…watch Anglo and be optimistic.”

Ah yes, watch Anglo and be optimistic, don’t worry about hundreds of millions in loans, be full of the joys of life, be decent to one another, make compassion central to how you live.

This man is not a priest, he’s not a philosopher, he’s a man living happily in a country where he is supremely confident that the Government will never allow his type to suffer or be at a loss no matter how much it costs ordinary citizens.

Lies and secrecy are the principal weapons being used by the Government to protect the developers and bankers of Anglo Irish Bank whose greed has brought the State to the brink of bankruptcy.

There’s nothing new in this, the State and its agencies have always acted to protect the interests of the corrupt with no regard whatsoever for the good of the country or its people.

Investors, however, are not as gullible and docile as the Irish people as witnessed by the dramatic drop in the shares of BOI and AIB yesterday. Hard nosed investors know very well that lies and secrecy mean only one thing, Anglo Irish is in a mess.

The politicians are also lying about BOI and AIB; both of these banks are also in a mess. It’s only a matter of time before their massive loans are transferred onto to shoulders of taxpayers while the bankers head off into the sunset with their golden handshakes.

Despite strong evidence of wrongdoing at Anglo Irish Bank the Minister for Finance has steadfastly refused to take any effective action against Sean Fitzpatrick and other bank executives.

“The Director of Corporate Enforcement is investigating all matters in relation to these matters in Anglo Irish Bank…and what has happened in the past will be investigated and dealt with by the authorities we already have in place and I don’t intend setting up new agencies to do that.”

(Prime Time).

The ODCE, like the so called Financial Regulator, is a joke. He has little power, is starved of resources and staff and it can be said with absolute certainty that he will never bring any of these bankers to account.

As I said previously, this is no accident. In real democracies these matters are dealt with immediately and effectively by the police and courts, people invariably go to jail.

In a corrupt state like Ireland, mechanisms like the powerless ODCE, the ultra secretive Financial Regulator, High Court inspectors and tribunals are specifically designed to sideline all investigations into never ending and ineffective dead ends.

It took a High Court inspector six years to investigate National Irish Bank. When he finally made his report revealing widespread theft and corruption at the bank it was decided to take no action. The whole point of the exercise was to ensure a long inquiry consigned the matter to history thus making it easy to let the offenders off.

The Jim Flavin DCC/Fyffes case is the same. Senior counsel Bill Shipsey was appointed by the High Court last July to investigate the case – Why? The Supreme Court had already found that Flavin committed fraud on the market.

He should have been arrested and charged but instead we see yet again the strategy of appointing a powerless official to carry out a long investigation at the end of which we can be absolutely certain nothing will be done.

Copy to:
Financial Regulator
ODCE

Judgement has been granted in favour of seven people who invested almost €13m with businessman Breifne O’Brien who misappropriated the funds in an alleged ‘Pyramid’ scheme.

The presiding Judge directed that the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation be given details of the court proceedings. The judge also granted a new injunction requiring Breifne O’Brien not to reduce his assets below €14.5m and denied a request that the case be heard in camera insisting instead that proceedings should be held in public.

O’Brien was told that he had lived a lie for fifteen years and that his investors were victims of a confidence trick which was not particularly sophisticated.

Compare this case to the Sean Fitzpatrick scandal at Anglo Irish Bank.

Fitzpatrick lived a lie for eight years as he moved his massive loan from bank to bank in a not very sophisticated scheme designed to deceive thousands of investors in his bank.

Because of his dishonesty thousands of shareholders have lost millions and the very stability of the banking system and the economy has been threatened.

So what happened to this chancer?

The Government and so called Financial Regulator immediately acted to defend Fitzpatrick saying that his actions, while disappointing, were not illegal. They are almost certainly wrong in this assessment.

They have further protected Fitzpatrick by keeping all details of his actions and the financial situation at Anglo Irish Bank a State secret. No action has been taken to freeze his assets and he is not under investigation by the police.

The completely discredited Financial Regulator is, allegedly, investigating Fitzpatrick. This, of course, is a joke. Even the most disinterested observer must now realise that the regulator acts only in the interests of chancers like Fitzpatrick. The interests of the country or its people do not enter the frame.

Sean Fitzpatrick is, as I write, in South Africa on a golfing holiday. He didn’t flee the country in panic and fear that he might be brought to account. Apparently, ‘Seanie’ doesn’t like the dark month of January and so heads off every year to sunnier climes to cheer himself up.

He has absolutely nothing to fear, he will be allowed to keep all his money; he will not have to pay back his loans; he will never be made to account for the thousands of lives he has devastated. Like every member of the Golden Circle Fitzpatrick is not subject to the laws of the land and enjoys total State protection no matter what he does.

Copy to:
Financial Regulator

It seems that the Government had no choice but to nationalise Anglo Irish Bank but I tend to agree with Senator Ross’s suggestion that the strategy is designed to avoid awkward questions being asked at today’s EGM (Prime Time).

The taxpayer is being asked to accept liabilities of at least €25 billion while being kept completely in the dark about what’s really going on.